Even the right leaning Globe and Mail appears to believe that one way to fix a vital but crumbling public service is to put some money into it. From today's editorial page:
"Rozanski's prescription Thursday, December 12, 2002 - Page A24 Mordechai Rozanski has just done for education in Ontario what the one-man royal commission did last month for Canadian health care. Reporting to the provincial government, he argued that a lot more tax money be spent: roughly $2-billion a year, on a $14-billion system, by 2005-06. But not without strings; in particular, he wants the system to account more transparently for its spending. He makes a good case that a high-quality education system requires a high level of public investment. "Britain and other jurisdictions came to this realization," he says. A footnote points to an essay asserting that former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher challenged the schools in the 1980s to improve by instituting new tests and standards, but did not provide support for teacher training or address inner-city needs. The result? Conflict and demoralization. Much the same happened in Mike Harris's Ontario. A rigorous new curriculum, new provincewide tests, publication of results, more equitable funding of school boards -- all are sound policies. But much went awry in implementation. The funding remained stuck at 1998 levels; Dr. Rozanski would add $1.08-billion just to keep up with student growth and inflation. Expected savings from amalgamating small boards did not help rich boards whose funds were siphoned off for poor boards. Teacher training suffered. So did special-education pupils. The result has been a series of strange goings-on, in which school-board trustees in Toronto and Ottawa broke the law by passing deficit budgets, and the province (now Ernie Eves's Ontario) appointed a supervisor to take over and cut costs. All this while Dr. Rozanski was hard at work, about to recommend that the money be put back and more added. Dr. Rozanski, who was presumably not chosen by the Tories for being a wild-eyed radical, embodies the virtues of Canada's public schools. The child of immigrants, he became the president of Ontario's University of Guelph. Public schools gave him, in his words, "the promise of a future." That promise does not come cheaply. In education, unlike medicine, Canadians have a choice: They can opt for the private alternative. And they have done so. Between 1995 and 1999, private-school enrolment grew by 40,000 in Ontario, rising to 103,000. The public system, with an enrolment of 2.1 million, must be protected; it remains the key to social progress and mobility. Wisely, Dr. Rozanski insists that school boards, principals, teachers and other staff be accountable for using their resources effectively, a point never fully embraced by trustees. For instance, more flexible and beefed-up grants for local priorities and for inner-city children should receive greater public discussion and there should be follow-up reports on what has been achieved. And he has found a way out of a shameful box on special education. Absurdly, auditor Al Rosen criticized the Ottawa school board for offering separate classes for special-education students, a criticism made not on pedagogical grounds but because the board could not afford to bus them to those classes. Yesterday, the province said its first action would be additional financing for special-ed, including transportation. Ontario needs to be fiscally responsible, but it has promised parents better schools. It is appropriate to begin the rebuilding with those most in need." Ed Weick 577 Melbourne Ave. Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 Canada Phone (613) 728 4630 Fax (613) 728 9382 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Hudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 3:14 AM Subject: Crumble and despair in our education policy > Charles Clarke, the present Minister for Education, is seriously proposing > that head-teachers should have the power to fine parents whose children are > skipping school. > > The proposal has only just been released this morning. It will, of course, > die a death almost immediately because it's more than a step towards the > sort of totalitarianism of Communist USSR or Nazi Germany but, > nevertheless, it's yet another indication of the depth of despair that > politicians in the present Labour government have about the fast-crumbling > state education system in England. > > Keith Hudson > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- > ------------ > > Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com > 6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England > Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > ________________________________________________________________________
